Types & Rules of Noun | English Grammar

What is a Noun?

A noun is the name of a person, name of place, animal, thing, idea, etc. 

Examples of Nouns

Name of a Person – Sachin, Sourabh, Jatin, Punit, Yagya, etc

Name of an Animal – Kangaroo, Dolphin, Tiger, Lion, etc.

Name of a Place –  Gwalior by-pass, Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, India, etc.

Name of a Thing – Table, Computer, Chair, Marker, Laptop, etc.

Name of an Idea –  Happiness, Anger, Superstitions, Excitement, etc. 

What are the different types of Nouns?

Nouns in English are broadly classified into 8 types – 

Common Noun – 

the name given in common to every place, thing or person belonging to the same class or kind, like a boy, girl, teacher, doctor, country, student, etc.

Proper Noun – 

the name given to a particular person or a place, such as Gauri, Rishika, Manya, Parul, Riya, Ishita, etc.

Collective Nouns – 

a name used for a group of people, animals, or things. Example, cattle, family, team, army, etc.

Concrete Nouns – 

are the names used for the things that have physical existence and we can see, such as a table, chair, mobile phones, etc.

Abstract Nouns – 

are the exact opposite of concrete nouns. These are the names given to an idea, conditions, or quality. Basically, the name is used to refer to something that cannot be seen but is there, it does not exist physically. For example, truth, patriotism, sorrow, friendship, etc.

Material Nouns – 

these are the names used to refer to substances, materials or things that are made up of an alloy. Examples, silver, gold, metal, cotton, etc. 

Countable Nouns – 

that can be counted like one pen, two ladies, 9 girlfriends, one chair, etc. These nouns take articles (a, an, the) with them. 

Uncountable Nouns – 

the nouns that cannot be counted. For example, water, soil, sugar, salt, etc. Abstract nouns and Proper Noun are always uncountable while Common and Concrete nouns can be both countable and well as uncountable nouns.

Nouns in English can further be classified on the basis of Number, Gender and Kinds.

Number Nouns

Singular Nouns – when one person or a thing is denoted then it is a Singular noun, such as pen, cow, boy, chairs, etc

Plural Nouns –  when a noun denotes more than one person or a thing it is a plural noun, for example – pens, cows, boys, chairs, etc.

Noun Genders

Masculine – nouns that refer to the male classification of a person, animal or thing example, man, lion, moon, etc

Feminine – nouns denoting a female class of a person, animal or thing like nature, tigress, woman, etc.

Neuteral – nouns that denote a thing without life, either female or male, example, pen, room, book, etc.

Noun Cases

Nouns classified on the basis of cases tells us the position of the noun in a sentence. There are five cases of nouns in English.

Possessive Case – when a noun denotes ownership or possession, example – That is my dress. ‘My’ is in the possessive case.

Vocative case – A noun is in the vocative case when it is used to call (to get attention). Example, Ms Ria, teachers are waiting for you in the staffroom. (Ms Ria is in a vocative case).

Dative Case – when a noun is in the indirect object of a verb it is in the Dative case, like, Rohan brought me chocolates, (‘Me’ is in the dative case)

Nominative Case – if a noun is the subject of a verb it is said to be in Nominative case. Example – Radha is an intelligent girl.

Objective Case – when the noun is the direct object of the verb or the preposition, they are in the objective case. Example – Please give the fruits.